Global Potential of Agrivoltaics for Sustainable Food and Energy Transitions

The dual challenge of meeting rising global food demand while accelerating the clean energy transition requires innovative land-use strategies. Agrivoltaics—the co-location of solar photovoltaics and agriculture—offers a transformative solution, yet global adoption has been hindered by a lack of standardized sunlight requirements for crops. Here, we introduce a framework to quantify crop-specific light requirements using the Daily Light Integral (DLI). We define two distinct thresholds: a “theoretical” DLI and a “real-world” DLI. Applying these thresholds to the world’s four staple crops (wheat, maize, rice, and soybean), we assess the global potential for co-generation without compromising food security. Our analysis reveals that even under conservative design scenarios SC40 that prioritize food security, agrivoltaic systems could generate over 100,000 TWh of electricity annually. Soybean and wheat demonstrate the highest compatibility, particularly in the Middle East, South Asia, and the Americas. These findings outline a quantitative pathway for sustainable land-use transitions, showing that multifunctional landscapes can simultaneously mitigate climate change, reduce water use, and strengthen rural resilience. Agrivoltaics exemplifies the water–energy–food–environment nexus at scale by improving land-use efficiency, creating favorable microclimates, and reducing evaporative demand.